Pure evil
Yesterday Banaz Mahmod’s father and uncle were jailed for life for her “honour” killing. It emerged that not only was the poor girl garrotted and buried in a suitcase, but that she was subjected to a two-hours of rape and torture beforehand.
Her uncle supervised as male members of the family sexually degraded her, beat her and stamped on her neck when the wire used to strangle her proved ineffective. Even after all that it took over half an hour for her soul and life to leave her body according to one of the participants in this orgy of violence and cruelty.
Reading this story my first reaction was one of anger. Fury actually. What kind of culture teaches men to treat women like this? And then call it honour?
Then I started to think about punishment. What can the punishment be for such a heinous act? The uncle and father (pictured) are going to serve twenty-odd years in prison. In my view that’s too good for them. There they will be fed, have a roof over their heads and sent to a doctor should they fall ill. They will live better than many of their Kurdish counterparts do in Iraq and elsewhere in the world.
Is the death penalty the answer? Ideologically I am opposed to it, but in this case….No, even that’s too good for them. So what can one do? In some societies a thief has his hand cut off for stealing an apple. What happens to a father who has organsied the gang rape, torture and brutal murder of his daughter I wonder? Probably not much.
Copyright: Helena Frith Powell 2007
21 Jul 2007 helena
I’m with you on this one Helena - I am so happy to see that the authorities in the UK are now facing up to their responsibilities and going after these killers. It has taken way too long and given the liberal PC bullshit that has been pervasive in the UK it is great to see that just because they have a different skin colour and different culture, the PC crap no longer disuades them from doing their job.
I won’t even go in to the whole culture gap, driven by mass immigration of ’stoneage’ cultures - I am just happy to see that justice has prevailed in this case. The trouble is there are so many more, as other killers hide behind a wall of silence that their communities still avail them - shame on them all.
I agree this is evil. Remember though that the only valid punishment is the one we give ourselves. If we don’t have a conscience i e a moral sense of right and wrong, we cannot be classified as human beings and it does not matter what other people say or do. Justice is nowadays a very fluid consept. Cash for honours is a good example. We all know they have done wrong but since it cannot be proven it is as if nothing wrong has happened.
Not only do I agree with you on this but I can think of a suitable punishment a la your hand cut off for roberry example. There is an analagous part of the body to cut off for such a heinous rape! Did the others who participated get sentenced as well? I don’t remember if it was on American TV or French TV5 that I saw a report that a newly created shelter for domestic violence to protect women from honor killings was created in Gaza. It’s behind steel fences/gates and there are armed guards there but women are getting help and learning how to cope and survive as well. England might well take a lesson from them given this horrendous case.
I agree, that story just broke my heart. I don’t understand how one could do that to another living thing….much less a family member, a young person who had their whole life ahead of them.
If you hav not read it, I recomend Under the Banner of Heaven, by Jon Krakauer - it deals with this topic (different faith, similar morality or lack thereof)
These stories are just too horrible - this was a truly evil act. There is no way to punish such people…they regarded killing her…much like one would squash an ant underfoot. They are not human to my mind.